Sgt. Raupp of the McHenry County Sheriff’s Office named officer of the yearApril 18, 2022
Sergeant Trent Raupp of the McHenry County Sheriff’s Office in Woodstock, Illinois, has been named the 2022 Most Outstanding Law Enforcement Officer of the Year by the Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police.
Raupp has held several roles in law enforcement including his first role as a correctional officer in 2007, and later as deputy sheriff and detective. He has been with the McHenry County Sheriff’s Office for 15 years and was promoted to sergeant in early 2022.
In his nomination, Prim cited the critical role that Raupp played in investigating the disappearance of Michelle M. Arnold-Boesiger who was reported missing to the Holiday Hills Police Department in early January 2021. Along with a team of officers, Raupp’s diligent work and thorough investigation led to the discovery of Arnold-Boesiger’s body and the arrest of her boyfriend for her murder.
Raupp joined the investigation when the McHenry County Sheriff's Office Criminal Investigations Division was asked to assist in the case. Despite numerous dead ends tracking Arnold-Boesiger’s whereabouts, Raupp continued to analyze her social media accounts, cell phone data and previous police interactions to develop a victimology.
Outreach to law enforcement agencies in and around Illinois uncovered that the FBI was investigating a missing persons/child abduction case in Wisconsin which involved Arnold-Boesiger’s current boyfriend, Jonathan J. Van Duyn. He had abducted his biological daughter from Wisconsin and later located by the FBI living in a camper trailer in Hartsville, Indiana, and driving Arnold-Boesiger’s vehicle.
Raupp worked closely with the FBI and the Wisconsin Department of Criminal Investigations to analyze the data obtained through subpoenas on vehicles, cell phones, social media, bank records and I-PASS accounts. He helped to plot the movements of Arnold-Boesiger and Van Duyn during the latter part of 2020 when he noticed a place in Roscoe, Illinois, frequently visited by the couple. The location was identified as a storage unit. After obtaining a search warrant, law enforcement located Arnold-Boesiger, deceased within Van Duyn’s vehicle housed in the storage unit.
The Winnebago County Sheriff's Office was notified and responded to the scene to collect evidence. Following months of interviews, additional search warrants, the coroner's report, and a review with the Winnebago County State's Attorney's Office, Van Duyn was arrested and charged with the homicide of Arnold-Boesiger in August 2021. Around the same time, Van Duyn pleaded guilty to kidnapping his 10-year-old daughter, an incident that reportedly happened a month after the murder of Arnold-Boesiger.
ILACP Executive Director Ed Wojcicki said that the persistence displayed by Sgt. Raupp throughout the investigation and his overall outstanding work led to him being chosen as Officer of the Year.
“Sheriff’s offices and police departments often collaborate,” Wojcicki said. “Our communities are always safer when we bring our resources together, as illustrated in the solving of Michelle Arnold-Boesiger's gruesome killing near the Illinois-Wisconsin border.”
Raupp said he is “truly honored and humbled” by the recognition he has received from the McHenry County Sheriff’s Office Administration and ILACP. He also credited the team of law enforcement professionals he has worked alongside.
“Thank you to my fellow investigators, supervisors and deputies who assisted untold hours to bring the case to a close, as I could not have done it without them,” he added. “Finally, I’d like to thank my family for their never-ending support throughout my career.”
Raupp will be honored with his award on April 29, 2022, at the ILACP Annual Awards Banquet in Northbrook.
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Sheriff Bill Prim nominated Raupp for the annual award citing his outstanding achievements as an investigator and his dedication to protecting the community and bringing justice.